This profound and moving talk between Rabbi Art Green with his student, Rabbi Getzel Davis, on the theology of prayer, touches upon very important questions: If God is One, how do we have a relationship with God? And if God loves us, how come there is suffering? The talk includes many Hebrew terms that may make it difficult to follow for those not familiar with Hebrew. Below, therefore, is a short glossary of Hebrew terms, in the order of their appearance in the talk.
tefillah – prayer
kavanah – intention
siddur – Jewish prayer book
kri’at shema – the statement of unity of God, which is the center of the morning and evening prayer (see Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shema_Yisrael)
baruch ata – “blessed art You”, and expression that is used throughout the prayer service
ahava raba and ahavat olam – “great love” and “eternal love”, the names of two prayers that prceed kri’at shema in the morning and in the evening, respectively
ve’ahavta – “thou shalt Love”, the first words of the text immediately following kri’at shema
ata – You
echad¬ – one
aleph-tav-he – the three Hebrew letters that make up the Hebrew word, ata (אתה). Aleph (א) is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, tav (ת) is the last letter
yod-he-vav-he – the four letters that together make up the holy, unpronounceable name of God (י-ה-ו-ה)
he-vav-yod-he (or havayah, הויה), means “being” or “existence”
hada’a – gratitude
mizmor letodah – a hymn of gratitude; or, as Rabbi Green translates it in this talk, a hymn to gratitude
bakashah – request, plea
pakalach – Yiddish for baggage
bracha – blessing
shacharit and ma’ariv – the morning prayer and the evening prayer
brachot – blessings (plural form of bracha)
yotzer or – the Creator of light (the first blessing before the shma)
ahavah raba ¬– great love (the second blessing before the shma)